Fluency
From Free net encyclopedia
Fluency is the property of a person or of a system that delivers information quickly and with expertise.
It implies very good information processing speed, i.e. very little average time between successively generated messages.
Language fluency
Language fluency is proficiency in a language, most typically foreign language or another learned language. In this sense, "fluency" actually encompasses a number of related but separable skills:
- Reading: the ability to easily read and understand texts written in the language;
- Writing: the ability to formulate written texts in the language;
- Comprehension: the ability to follow and understand speech in the language;
- Speaking: the ability to speak in the language and be understood by its speakers.
To some extent, these skills can be separately acquired. Generally, the later in life a learner approaches the study of a foreign language, the harder it is to acquire auditory comprehension and fluent speaking skills. Reading and writing a foreign language are skills that can be acquired more easily after the primary language acquisition period of youth is over, however.
A sign that one has achieved at least comprehensive fluency in a particular language is that the speaker can dream in the language.
Reading fluency
Reading fluency (Often confused with fluency with a language - see above)
The No Child Left Behind Laws require that schools only spend Federal Education Funds on educational tools proven to work. The landmark Government "What Works Report found that the five key areas in learning to read are phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and reading fluency.
Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and quickly. Fluency bridges word decoding and comprehension. Comprehension is understanding what has been read. Fluency is a set of skills that allows readers to rapidly decode text while maintaining high comprehension.
A first benchmark for fluency is being able to "sight read" some words. The idea is that children will recognize at sight the most common words in written English and that instant reading of these words will allow them to read and understand text more quickly. Also, since there are many common English words that are so irregular according to the rules of phonics, its best to get children to just memorize them from the start. For example, try sounding out these words: "one", "was", "if", "even", or "the".
As children learn to read, the speed at which they read becomes an important measure.
More information on fluency for professionals or for parents.